Essay on Highway Revolt: The Eisenhower Interstate system

Essay on Highway Revolt: The Eisenhower Interstate system

Essay Preview

The Eisenhower Interstate system had many long term effects, negative and positive. It positively affected the country in that many americans began migrating from the North Eastern states to more rural states such as Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. This shift in population patterns spread out Americans and increased the variety of lifestyles in the United States.
Other consequences of the interstate system were seen on the ecological aspects of the country. Forman & Alexander state in a journal article that, “Sometime during the last three decades, roads with vehicles probably overtook hunting as the leading direct human cause of vertebrate mortality on land…an estimated one million vertebrates per day are killed on roads in the United States.” In addition to animal mortality rates, ecosystems are majorly affected by the rerouting of natural water flow. Especially in elevated or mountainous regions the redirecting of water creates channels in places they wouldn't naturally exist. This can damage and erode large sums of land that would naturally go unchanged. The issue of sediment movement arises when looking at runoff from roads. The drainage of highways carries in it mass amounts of sediments that are carried into streams and rivers. The excess sediment can do great harm to these aquatic ecological systems. Furthering unintended consequences, the chemical, NaCl, used for deicing roads has proven to be harmful. Christopher Amrhein states in his article on the effects of deicing agents that the “...use of NaCl for snow and ice removal from roads has resulted in environmental impacts in many areas...corrosion of bridges, road surfaces and vehicles and damage to roadside vegetation and aquatic systems…”
The negative affect...

... middle of paper ...

...over one hundred years. In those one hundred years there have been vast advancements in the area of highway construction. A base of knowledge in the environmental and social aspects of highway creation has taught America to be more careful and cautious when designing and planning new highway and interstate projects. Past mistakes often arise when dealing with new highway projects and learning them so as to not do them again is of utmost importance. Although there were arduous times throughout the history of highway construction it is obvious that the public interstate system in place benefits the nation.

Works Cited

nationalatlas.gov. “Transportation of the United States.” Last modified January 14, 2013. Accessed May 19, 2014. http://www.nationalatlas.gov/transportation.html.
Provides tons of information about America’s transportation system and highway data.

Need Writing Help?

- Highway Revolt In the past seventy years the United States has evolved to become a nation of intricate roads and major superhighways. With 6,586,610 km of public roads the United States holds the leading position for the largest road network in the world. Creating such a monstrous change in a nation over a short period of time generated some disagreements between locals and politicians. In addition to disagreements, the undertaking of building an enormous network of highways held a vast number of unintended consequences.... [tags: construction of roads, superhighways]

- Today's society relies heavily on roads, and today just about all roads are paved, and we have the convenience of Interstates and US Highways to travel on. Before Dwight Eisenhower's Interstate System, and before the United States Numbered Highway system, there were no standards to which roads were built, most were not even paved, there were no required numbering systems, and ones that did exist were not organized in efficient ways. The US Route System, and later The Interstate System, have promoted massive growth, easier travel, greater tourism, and easier logistics in the United States.... [tags: Urban Development ]

- "I didn't know at first that there were two languages in Canada. I just thought that there was one way to speak to my father and another to speak to my mother." -- Louis Stephen St. Laurent. As the second French Canadian prime minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent had a very influential role to Canada. St-Laurent became prime minister in 1948, after a selection authorized by a Liberal Convention. He was a well-respected prime minister and was given the name "Uncle Louis" for reshaping and improving Canada as an international well-known country.... [tags: transportation, highway history]

- Thomson Highway's The Rez Sisters Works Cited Not Included The play The Rez Sisters is written by one of Canada's most celebrated playwrights, Tomson Highway. Highway was born in 1951 in northwestern Manitoba. He went on to study at the University of Manitoba and graduated from the University of Western Ontario, with honors in Music and English. Native Literature is inspired by 'contemporary social problems facing native Canadians today; alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, wife battering, family violence, the racism of the justice system, loneliness, rejection, youth awareness, as well as modern-day environmental issues.';(P.... [tags: Thomson Highway Rez Sisters Essays Papers]

- You might have heard recently that the United States Trust Fund is currently experiencing a solvency issue due to an increased cost associated with financing road projects. The members of the United States Congress, as well as numerous other influential leaders, have been discussing means of addressing this “broken” Highway Trust Fund. The budget deficit in the Highway Trust Fund has been an issue that affects every American but particularly those who are on a fixed budget. This issue has been consistently thrown on the back burner for some time now and due to this procrastination an issue that would have normally been an easy fix has ballooned into a much larger issue.... [tags: Tax, Taxation, Progressive tax, Tax rate]

- Analysis of The Revolt of Mother “The Revolt of ‘Mother’” by Mary Wilkins Freeman, was a story of a woman who lived in New England around or before the author’s time. The mother, Sarah Penn, was kept out of the families decisions by the father, Adoniram Penn, until one event that lead to her taking drastic actions while her husband was gone. There are many religious symbols and actions taken by “Mother” within the story. Through the story Sarah moved from a feeling of servitude to her husband, to a feeling that she was in servitude to the Lords will and this led her, in the end, to hold power over her husband.... [tags: Analysis of The Revolt of Mother]

- Dream Interpretation of the Film "Lost Highway" Cop: Do you own a video camera. Renee: No. Fred hates them. Fred: I like to remember things my own way. Cop: What do you mean by that. Fred: How I remembered them. Not necessarily the way they happened. A dream can mean everything, or it can mean nothing. According to Freud, if we take its contents seriously, it has the potential to reveal things about ourselves that we scarcely believe could be true. But often the fragmented oddness of such a vision damages its credibility, and one is left wondering how something so disjointed could contain insight of any value.... [tags: Lost Highway Movie Films Dreams Essays Papers]

- The Battle of the Sexes Continue in The Revolt Of Mother "Unsolicited opportunities are the guide-posts of the Lord to the new roads of life." This quote from Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "The Revolt Of 'Mother"' exemplifies the independent and rebellious spirit of the main character, Sarah Penn. Because Sarah Penn's behavior is unorthodox for a woman of the nineteenth century, the author constantly compared her to similar historical figures. When Mrs. Penn is baking her husband's favorite mince pies, we become aware of the first historical relationship.... [tags: Revolt Of Mother Essays]

- Where are you at seven-o-clock on a Monday morning. If you are like most of the working populous, you are waking up for work. Skip ahead to eight-o-clock, the car starts and it is off to join the morning commute. During the daily grind, sitting in the car becomes repetitious and thoughts begin to wander. During this wondering, the thought of unlimited speed and unclogged highways overflows into every corner of your brain, but traffic begins to move again and those thoughts dissipate. This anecdote is an example of a cultural value, specifically, the value of freedom; the freedom to drive fast.... [tags: Building Roads, Freedom]

- What exactly is this “information highway”. “Think of the information highway as a library that's so new it doesn't have any shelves yet or a card catalogue to find what you need or a road you can take with information on all kinds of subjects” (The Information Highway). The ”information highway” or “information superhighway” is a term that became popularized in 1990 and is now regarded as information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a basic human need. The official project behind the information highway was the National Information Infrastructure.... [tags: essays research papers]